The role of the Telescope and the Microscope in Constitution of the Idea of Scientific Progress

0498385 - FLÚ 2020 RIV GB eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Špelda, Daniel
The role of the Telescope and the Microscope in Constitution of the Idea of Scientific Progress.
The Seventeenth Century. Roč. 34, č. 1 (2019), s. 107-126. ISSN 0268-117X
Grant CEP: GA ČR GB14-37038G
Institucionální podpora: RVO:67985955
Klíčová slova: telescope * microscope * idea of scientific progress * early modern natural philosophy
Obor OECD: Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology
Způsob publikování: Omezený přístup
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0268117X.2017.1356743

The invention of optical instruments showed that the extent of human experience is not eternal and natural but contingent – it can change, depending on the availability and performance of optical instruments over time. This knowledge of the temporal variability of empirical knowledge led to changes in the methodology and epistemology of early modern natural philosophy. In this article, I focus mainly on three aspects of this process. Firstly, optical technique has shown that nature cannot be examined by an isolated individual. Natural philosophy must be a collective activity with institutional support. Secondly, use of optical instruments led to an understanding of the relativity of contemporary natural philosophy, no longer understood as the culmination of preceding development. The present state of natural philosophy becomes a transient stage in a longer development. Thirdly, telescopes and microscopes contributed to the formation of an idea of unending progress.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0296182